MLB Playoffs: NLCS! Colorado at Arizona, Game 1, Francis vs. Webb. The only team to beat the Rockies in the last 18 games was the D'backs (and that was only once, mind you).

The Rockies have become the most compelling team not just in the MLB Playoffs, but in all of sports right now. It's hard to imagine them losing their mojo, but a Game 1 loss might throw them off-track. Meanwhile, the D'backs are the SABR version of a freakshow: They have been outscored by 20 runs on the season, which defies the classic baseball "Pythagorean Theorem."

Torre's Future, Cont'd: Now Mariano Rivera says his future with the Yankees (or lack of one) will be tied to Joe Torre's fate. I wonder if Derek Jeter would be saying the same thing if he was a free agent?

Lakers owner Jerry Buss on Kobe trade deals: "I would listen." That's huge. If the Lakers aren't playoff contenders by February's trade deadline, I could definitely see the Lakers dealing him. What a midseason blockbuster that would be.

Allan Houston returning to the Knicks? For a team where stupid news comes more frequently than wins, this ranks up there. Why would they entertain this silly charade, when they really should be focusing on their core of young talents? How can any Knicks fan support this (beyond the ironic value the rest of us see)?

KG vs. the T'wolves: 9 points, 6 rebouds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals in a Celtics win over his old team. Maybe he took it easy on them out of a sense of nostalgia. (Ray Allen did the damage, with 28 points.)

Magic's Rashard Lewis sprains his ankle: When did you see this coming –the day he signed his mega-deal with the Magic? Oh, yes.

Vinny Testaverde is a Panther: He's 43. He was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1987 draft. Yes: 1987. It was that long ago. And for those of you, like me, who remember it as a memorable moment of early-teen fanhood, yes, you are that old. (Put that in context: No fan under the age of 30 remembers it, and 20-year-old fans were just being born.) I love the fact that a career that was defined as being a huge bust will ultimately be replaced by the fact he had an insanely long career.

Andy Reid denies rumors he's quitting: That doesn't mean he won't be gone as Eagles head coach by the time next season rolls around.

NFL Fantasy: OK, so who has picked up Gus Frerotte as their starting QB?

NFL Expansion: Something to file away -- Toronto could be a leading candidate to get an existing NFL team to relocate.

CFB: The rumor has it that ABC might put Cincinnati-South Florida in primetime on Nov. 3. If both teams are still undefeated, this will have national-title implications. Forget the "names" involved: This would be a unique "Cinderella-ish Bowl" that CFB fans would want to see.

Sports Media: I'm late on this, but what do you think about Suzyn Waldman's on-air crying about Joe Torre and the Yankees? It was shocking because it came from mainstream media, it came from the kind of "homer" announcer fans have always known are anything but impartial and, of course, because it came from a woman commentator.

Gender is the biggest factor in this. I personally think that she seemed more bloggish – more sincerely passionate, devoid of the faux "objectivity" that guts most sports media – than most any other announcer I'd ever seen. It was only shocking because we see sincere emotion from mainstream media so rarely.

Scandal Watch: Should Marion Jones' relay teammates (presumably clean) get to keep their Olympic medals won in the relay? I say yes, though it is murky.

62 comments:

LeBron never said he didn't like the Indians, he just said he likes the Yankees more. I have several teams that I like to root for, and when they play head-to-head, I go with the one I like the most. If he is a true Yankees fan, he wouldn't want the Red Sux to win anyway.

NFL Expansion - I wouldn't use the word expansion. Relocation is a better word. The league is struggling in the talent pool right now (see Vinny getting signed). The player talent as not caught up since the league went from 28 to 32 teams. Plus L.A. would be the existing owner’s first choice over Toronto.

The Vinny playing at 43 story is pretty funny, not as funny as when the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup and I overheard to guys talking and one said; "Dave Andreychuk, I remember when his father played back in the 80s for the Sabres." His friend replied with, "No no, same guy." and the classic response of, "Shit, I'm freakin old."

i could care less about michelle wie, not only is she not great at golf, she is also fugly...

that yankee announcer was just another example of yankee fans not admitting why they lost. she said its because of parity in MLB, not that fact that a better team beat them. i cannot wait for for the ALCS to start so i can stop hearing about the fucking yankees and arod and torre.

In the only sport actually being played last night Carey Price won his 1st NHL start in Pittsburgh 22 years to the day HOF Patrick Roy won his 1st start, also in Pittsburgh. A 3rd Habs HOF goalie Ken Dryden also won his 1st NHL start in Pittsburgh!

Jonathan Toews scored the first goal in his 1st game of his NHL career and he set a Blackhawk record, scoring the fastest goal on Chicago history by a player playing his first game as he scored 13:43 into the first period.

I understand that the women on the relay team wants to keep her metal, but really. She doesn't deserve it. Marion Jones admitted to cheating for that race, and as PV845 mentioned another teammate was caught using steroids m(though not until 2004), and it was only one member of the team, not 2.

I'm really sick of all the crying about East Coast Bias. I'm going to have to (I mean have to because I don't want to) agree with Colin Cowherd on this one.

Do you know why everyone talks about the Yanks, Sox, TO, Vick, Pats, Mets, etc.? Because it's more INTERESTING. TV ratings prove it. Cowboys on MNF get big ratings. Sox/Yanks even during the regular season will beat the NLCS ratings.

It isn't ESPN's fault that people find this stuff more interesting. They are a business. They put on what people will watch. The same thing happend with Poker. People were interested so it got on TV.

Stop blaming people for talking about stuff that is more interesting. Are the Indians good? Yes. I picked them to win the series. But the Yanks are clearly more interesting.

Hey Guy: You want to know why more people watch the Yankees and the other East Coast teams, because there are more people on the east coast. Even if only a quarter of the fans in NYC watch something it is more than most midwestern cities.

If ESPN and everyone put on a show that was actually worth watching about a team not on the East Coast then maybe more than a quarter of NYC would watch and then you would you also get people other places to watch.

tbender...sadly i realize this. one of ctowns radio hosts said it best, we lose all we hear is how the yankees have overcome adversity and how this is an ewpic redsox yankee showdown...or we win as we did and all u will hear is another yankee collapse, whats with arond and torre what will the boss do. is so fucking annoying. does anyone outside of NY and the rest of their fucking obnoxious bandwagon fans give a shit.

I watched a bit of the Pitt-Navy game last night. Wannstedt went for it on 4th and 2 from his own 40 late in the game last night with about 3 minutes to go. I thought that was a real questionable call even after they made it. The reason he went for it was he had a 3 point lead and no confidence his defense could stop Navy. They couldn't anyway and Navy sent it to OT.

He went for it again in OT and failed. I actually think in OT it was a worse play than in the 4th Qtr. In the 4th qtr, he had the lead and just needed one stop. He felt that Navy was outplaying them and that with a bigger O-line and Navy's poor D, he could win the game. My big issue was that he passed the ball (which he did in the 4th qtr as well) instead of just using the size advantage and running it.

"The only team to beat the Rockies in the last 18 games was the D'backs (and that was only once, mind you)."

Mind you? Really? The DBacks beat them in the first game of the series and that was all they needed. That last series of the season has no real bearing on this series (sans the game Webb pitched). Arizona ran out Edgar Gonzalez and Yusmeiro Petit in the 2nd and 3rd game. Neither were even on the NLDS roster and neither will be on the NLCS roster.

And of course all the members of the relay team need to give back their medals. They didn't win it. If Reggie Bush is DQed, the whole USC team loses the game, not just the one player who cheated.

That is the real punishment, costing your teammates their medals as well. I am all for collective punishment. When a kid is out of control at school, we should punish his parents. When a stock broker is guilty of inside trading, make his family live in public housing for a year. When a president is impeached, take away electoral votes from his part. OK, I am joking about that last one.

Nothing is better than the billboards they put up in the bay area that said this is your teammate or something to that extent with a bucs player on the billboard since senor green balls was infamous for throwing picks. God the Bucs had some bad first round pics in the 80's. The worst part is as soon as Vinny left tampa he was actually almost respectable. Thanks Dan for making me feel like a crusty old fart. I even had a flashback to the canes all wearing fatigues before getting their asses handed to them by penn state. Wheres my geritol.

Obviously there are more people on the East Coast. That's why you can't blame ESPN. Is it dumb for them to play to the larger audience?

And anyway... can anyone make an arguement that the Sox/Yanks aren't more interesting than the Rox/Bax? The East Coast has the better players and therefore gets more coverage. Sure there are a few great players on teams that aren't on the East Coast. But add up the players on the Mets/Sox/Yanks and compare them to the players on Angels/Dodgers/A's.

guyinthecorner: You probably know those guys better better because you are either on the east coast or a fan of one of those teams. Probably both, which I am as well, I live in RI and am a Sox fan. I watch all the Sox games, so I know their players very well, I also know all the Yankee Players very well because they play the sox 600 times per year.

You didn't mention Chone Figgins, Garrett Anderson, Nick Swisher, Eric Chavez, Jeff Kent, Brad Penny among others for your West Coast stars. There are plenty on the West Coast, we just don't see them as much b/c their games start at 10pm for more than half the time.

I agree it's fine for ESPN and others to have an East Coast bias, but I disagree with you about overall star power on the teams (relative to payroll that is)

I'd rather ESPN go back to, you know, reporting news about sports and showing sports. Currently, there is no news about the Yankees. What's annoying is that they still talk about them. No one has been fired. No one has been signed. No news. So why not talk more about the rest of the playoffs?Why do ppl watch Red Sox/Yanks on tv when its on? Maybe because a lot of times, ESPN2 has Rodeos going at the same time. Makes the choice easy.

I'm with Patrick...D-backs didn't care after they clinched. Nobody gave them a chance against the Cubs and they swept. We should all know from the Cardinals last year that it doesn't matter what you did in the regular season as long as you get in the playoffs. All that matters is that they score more runs than their opponent now. I'll be at Game 1 today.

john schuerholz isn't going to the cardinals or anywhere, he's staying with the team(as reported by the atlanta journal constitution), just stepping down as general manager, his top, and long time, assistant of 7 years frank wren is taking over.

I realize that the reason that the East Coast teams have more stars is that they spend more money than the West Coast teams but that isn't my point. I don't care if that's why they are better. The bottom line is that they are better.

I don't think that all the great players being on 3 teams is a good thing (especially because they don't actually win all the time and in the case of the Mets don't even make the playoffs) but that is the reality.

Therefore the reality is that there is bound to be more media attention for the teams with the better/more famous/more interesting characters.

What is so interesting/fascinating about the Yankees/Mets/Red Sox though? I know a lot of people watch the games (I don't personally). They have only won 1 world series between them in the last 6 years. In that time, you've had 2 teams out west win, 2 central teams, a team with no fan support whatsoever and the Red Sox.

Also, I'd like to know when the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry became really big. I know they've been rivals all these years, but it didn't seem to take on this much hype 10 years ago. Historically, I don't think the Red Sox have really been the Yankees biggest rivals at all.

@ Guy: I didn't say better, said more stars. That is why the team with the most "stars" is at home and the team with the second most "stars" is about to lose to the Indians.

The Red Sox were mildly interesting because of the curse and that has passed into annoyance. They all as a whole are famous more for the fact that the news won't stop talking about them than anything they could ever do.

Joey said .... Historically, I don't think the Red Sox have really been the Yankees biggest rivals at all.

I do not know what planet you are on but the Red Sox and Yankees have been rivals for a long long time. The rivalry has only gotten bigger in the last few years because 1. the media, 2, the red sox finally beat their hated rival.

When the Red Sox used to suck in the 80's the only games they would sell out was opening day and all the yankees games

Everyone sells out the Yankees game. The Indians always drew bigger crowds for the Yankees and for a time were big rivals with New York, much more so than Boston. The way I see it. The Yankees are Boston's biggest rival easily, but historically, Boston hasn't been the Yankees biggest rivals.

Either way, the constant news about those teams has turned me completely off of ESPN. I'm not the only one either. ESPN used to be awesome and I'd look forward to Sportscenter everyday, not anymore.

I don't mind the stuff that is on ESPN, when it is sports. I just wish they would do more soccer. All you ever get is crap MLS and the occasional Champions league game. Even if you get Setanta or Fox Soccer you really don't get that much selection. I love Motherwell and I have never been able to get a game since I left the UK. Thank god I can at least get the radio feed.

I think Larry Luccino's line calling the Yanks "the Evil Empire," is when the national media really grabbed hold of this rivalry. Other than that, the local outlets and these teams have always hated each other.

Anybody hear about Agent Zero cheating at Halo?In what seems likely to be the newest "Ok, this is embarrassing, but it happened" story to hit Gilbert Arenas's blog, some online gamers are pretty sure that Gil (or perhaps a rep-boosting representative) has been cheating at Halo 3 on Xbox Live.I come to the story via Digg.com, and I can only hope it crosses over into the sports media so Tony and Wilbon can grind Arenas's gears again.As always, I'm thrilled when any hero of Dan's does something ridiculously stupid.

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